Grandfather and the Python - Vocabulary and Key Concepts

Vocabulary and core concepts flashcards based on Ruskin Bond's 'Grandfather and the Python'.

Conceited

Excessively proud of oneself or vain; used in the story to describe the python after it continuously admired its own reflection in the mirror.

Devour

To eat food hungrily or quickly; describes Aunt Mabel's terrified impression that the python was staring at her as if it would eat her.

Hysterics

Wildly uncontrollable emotion or excitement; refers to Aunt Mabel's dramatic fits of panic when encountering the python.

Apprehensive

Anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen; describes the feeling of Grandfather and the narrator after the python first disappeared.

Irony

A literary situation involving a contrast between expectation and reality, or between what is said and what is meant, such as Grandfather carrying an umbrella to kill a snake.

Crestfallen

Sad and disappointed; describes Grandfather's appearance when he returned from the bazaar without finding the snake charmer.

Enamoured

Filled with a feeling of love or admiration; used in the text to describe the python becoming fascinated with its own reflection.

In raptures

A state of intense pleasure, enthusiasm, or delight; describes the python's state while gazing at its reflection inside the cage.

Eau-de-Cologne

A scented liquid sprinkled on Aunt Mabel by Grandmother to calm her down after her frightening encounter in the garden.

Ponytrap

A small horse-drawn carriage used by Grandfather and the gardener to transport the caged python across the river bed to the jungle.

Aunt Mabel

Grandfather's fussy cousin whose visit causes anxiety and who wildly exaggerates the small python as a twenty-foot boa constrictor.

Ruskin Bond

The author of the short story 'Grandfather and the Python'.

Fear vs. Perception

The central theme of the story illustrating how human fear distorts reality and imagination, leading to exaggerated overreactions.